• Oncology · Jan 2006

    Symptoms in the lives of terminal cancer patients: which is the most important?

    • Yong Chol Kwon, Young Ho Yun, Ki Heon Lee, Ki Young Son, Sang Min Park, Yoon Jung Chang, Xin Shelley Wang, Tito R Mendoza, and Charles S Cleeland.
    • Research Institute and Hospital, National Cancer Center, Goyang, Gyeonggi, Korea.
    • Oncology. 2006 Jan 1; 71 (1-2): 69-76.

    ObjectivesSymptoms other than their primary disease can interfere in the lives of terminal cancer patients. We sought to identify which of these symptoms is most important.MethodsWe administered a questionnaire, including the M.D. Anderson Symptom Inventory (MDASI), to 142 terminal cancer patients at the National Cancer Center, Korea. The validity of the MDASI was tested by principal-axis factor analysis and Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Stepwise multiple regression analysis was used to determine the symptoms that interfered most in terminal cancer patients' lives.ResultsFactor analysis showed that it was composed of two factors (symptom and interference scales). Cronbach's alpha coefficients of symptom and interference scales were each >0.70. The patients had an average of 11 of 13 symptoms of the MDASI. Pain was the most common and severe, followed by feelings of distress and fatigue. Fatigue was the most highly correlated with interference sum. In stepwise multiple regression analysis, the most interfering symptom was fatigue.ConclusionsAlthough pain was the most common and severe symptom, fatigue was the most important symptom interfering in the lives of terminal cancer patients. In treating terminal cancer patients, healthcare providers should actively intervene to reduce both fatigue and pain.

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